Chapter 44
Chapter 44
It all began when Yegorka paid Juno a visit at a most inappropriate time. His stories always bored her to death, especially when he bragged about how he could beat any young Stone with a single punch of his left hand. But the final straw was when he “accidentally” touched her bottom during the sparring.
Juno’s squeals and curses had sobered Yegorka at once. He regretted it at once, but it was too late. The maids threw him by the collar out of the mansion, turning a deaf ear to his excuses or apologies. But he was no ordinary guest! Only the superior maids under Juno’s order had the right to treat him like that. He was the most promising genius in the Stone family, after all. He was supposed to become the strongest among the incompetent young generation by the age of 18. The eldest in the family pinned high hopes on him. Juno could not forgive him that misdeed and avoided sparring with him for a long time. Since then, Yegorka had been afraid to offend the wayward girl. Today she gave in, at last.
However, he noticed that Juno’s cultivation had been rising at a frightening rate. He was afraid he might be unworthy of her in the near future. Juno had reached the 5th stage of the basic phase in just three months! It took him two years! She was definitely more talented… Sooner or later, she would advance and never look back, which meant he had to act before it was too late, act decisively and be firm! Juno was so unapproachable, and Yegorka was just a friend. All his efforts to set up any romance between them had no effect. All that was left for him was to watch the happiness of his life grow and leave him far behind with nothing but sweet memories, shadows from the past. However, Yegorka did not lose hope. He kept trying to reach Juno’s heart. She was unique and only in the whole world, at least for him.
Juno changed the subject:
«Yegorka, how are you doing… after the loss?»
Yegorka couldn’t hold back his emotions. He turned away and gasped for air:
«I’m fine… I’m sure that my father died doing his duty. His rage over the slaves got the best of him… All that excessive stress must have given him a stroke… And…»
Yegorka’s voice faltered. He wished Juno would hug him to comfort him. But… No… She kept silent. She gave him neither a sympathetic sigh nor a friendly pat on the shoulder! {Say something, I am begging you…}
«I see…» – Juno nodded. – «My friend told me he had lost a student. Martin was a good formarcist and a good father.» – Her voice was very soft. She nearly whispered the words.
Meanwhile, Kyon, who was standing behind the gate, slapped his forehead. It was he who had killed Martin! What was the chance of meeting that greedy bastard’s offspring so soon? This world had no end of surprises in store for him.
Yegorka swallowed his pride, turned around, fumbled in his deep pocket and took out a colorful box:
«Here, your favorite raspberry cakes. What about a snack before the fight?»
Juno took one with a bored expression on her face, bit off a piece and put it back. She liked Yegorka only for his high potential among the younger generation, the reason why the adults respected him and his peers envied him. A genius like him might be worthy of being her friend and a sparring partner. Besides, he never drooled in her presence, which was no small thing.
Juno didn’t mind being friends with him, but everything else about him drove her up the wall! From gifts and poems to averting his eyes when she looked at him for more than a second. In fact, it was pure disrespect to her! She could make him address her with all formalities if it didn’t seem so weird. They had agreed to communicate in private in a casual way. Around other people, Yegorka had to show respect to her higher rank.
Yegorka could feel in his guts the approaching awkward silence and hurried to change the subject.
«By the way, I will tell you a secret at the party your grandfather is throwing. I’ve kept it since childhood. What is more, I have a surprise for you – a gift. It will definitely help you evolve faster.» – Yegorka grinned from ear to ear.
Juno raised her thin eyebrows.
«Do you really want to give me something for my cultivation? It’s so sweet of you!» – She praised him with a smile.
Yegorka’s heart melted. His legs bent treacherously, giving his feelings away. The cutie’s smile made his soul sing. His heart trembled happily. It happened so rarely that she smiled at him. More often than not, he had to see her evil or malicious grin.
Juno tossed her head scornfully and turned away.
«We’d better start our sparring. This time lower your stage to mine, don’t make it two stages higher. It’s only fair this way.»
Yegorka shook his head:
«Juno, you’ll never get stronger, fighting on equal terms.» – He sighed and his cultivation plummeted to the 7th stage of the base phase. Any second phaser could do that trick.
It might seem from the outside that he did that to instruct Juno. In fact, Yegorka feared that the talented girl would thrash him once they were equal. It would be such a disgrace. He would be crushed, with hardly any chance to make her his. With his cultivation higher than hers, it would look like a giveaway. Juno wouldn’t suspect anything if she happened to knock him to the floor.
Juno rolled her eyes. She stood opposite Yegorka, and the fight began.
Kyon was peeping through a small hole in the gate. He was completely convinced of Yegorka’s feelings for Juno. He reminded Kyon of Jean. Everyone kowtowed to the demoness in the angel’s skin as if they were enchanted. Everyone but not Kyon. Anyway, it would be stupid to fall for someone who could finish you off at a whim.
Fighting with Juno was Yegorka’s favourite pastime. It was written all across his face. He seemed to be dancing a love dance with her.
Juno snorted, surprised. {Hm… My movements are getting better. Practice with Jean must be paying off. I do find him a bit weird but what counts is that I get stronger with him.}
If only Kyon knew that she had given all his credit to Jean…
Yegorka noticed that Juno’s response to his attacks was getting much more confident than before. He pursed his lips in disappointment. She was really talented. The gap in two stages was hardly an advantage anymore.
They had been fighting for some time when Juno’s tight bottom got so conveniently close to Yegorka’s hand. He could not resist the temptation and grabbed it out of reflex…
«What! Are you fucking stupid?!» – Juno turned on him like a wild cat, fixing an angry stare on him.
Yegorka was stupefied. He couldn’t understand what had happened, but he felt like a stupid poodle that soiled himself. He pulled off the mischievous limb and stared at it in disbelief as if he could not recognize his own hand and babbled in response:
«Juno, I’m, I’m sorry! I have no idea how…»
«Shut up, asshole!» – Juno ruthlessly pressed the formation.
Within five minutes, Dinah and Anna ran in. One gesture of their lady, and they grabbed Yegorka by the collar and kicked him out of the mansion like a mongrel dog to the accompaniment of his screams:
«Juno, forgive me! It was a mistake! My hand twitched by itself and…»
Juno snorted dismissively and turned away without looking at the petty dirty-ass pervert. If he didn’t have the great potential, if he wasn’t her friend, she would have ordered to cut off his balls and then his head, exactly in this order. She really hated horny boys.
Juno hurried towards the mansion, her mood completely spoiled. She didn’t want to practice anymore. She had an urgent need to take a shower to wash off the touch of that wanker. {All guys are the same… They want only one thing.}
Kyon let out a sigh of relief. The arrogant asshole had just unwittingly helped his father’s killer. The sun had long gone over the horizon. Most likely, no one would remember him till morning. No one at all… His stomach rumbled demandingly, his mouth was dry. He experienced a wide range of indescribable sensations. At least there was no pain among them as Synergy had blocked his receptors. It was quite obvious that no one in the whole mansion cared a shit about him. There was no bed and no food for him… He had no chance to survive.
{Take me back to the mine, please… I had a bed and food there. And here…} Kyon clenched his fists. He was so frustrated with the reality. But he was not giving up. It was time to act. It was time to get up on his feet.
An hour later, Kyon secretly left the training ground. All the servants had already gone to their quarters. The park was supposedly empty but no less dangerous. If Dinah got her hands on him…
Kyon entered the hot spring area. He made sure there was no one in there, drank some water and headed for the front door, trying to walk quieter than a soft breeze.
The main entrance was between the park and the mansion. There was no lock, not even a door. It was a walk-through. The winters must be warm here if there were any seasons at all.
Kyon listened carefully. Silence. He went further. Sometime later, he heard almost intangible footsteps. It took him some effort to discern the maids’ walk. Kyon laid low.
The girls entered the bathroom and locked the door with a bar latch. He heard the water running. Apparently, the sisters preferred to take a bath together – a nice story for a porn movie.
Kyon’s eyes sparkled dangerously. He rushed back to the hot spring and carefully put a handful of amber stones (the money of the advanced phase) on the ground. Then he dashed to his wait-and-see post in the mansion.
His heart pounded so fast that it could break through his chest and jump out. He was about to go through with his plan. Was there any chance it would work?
The countdown had begun: three, two, one… A loud *bang* resounded next to the hot spring.